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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the New England Region

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the New England Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

35 Colleges
$29,604 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,506 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies was ranked #15 in the country. In fact 73,813 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the New England Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 35 schools in the New England Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for parks and rec students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the New England Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

$13,365 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Johnson & Wales University - Online to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a degree in the New England Region . Located in the midsize city of Providence, JWU Online is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at JWU Online are $13,365 per year. While working on their degree, parks and rec majors at JWU Online accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $430, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Johnson & Wales University - Online

#2

Westfield State University

Westfield, MA
$17,219 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 35 schools in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Westfield State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Westfield, Westfield is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Westfield undergraduate students pay an average of $17,219 in tuition and fees each year. Parks & Rec majors at Westfield take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Westfield State University Report

#3

Post University

Waterbury, CT
$15,458 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Post University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the New England Region . Post University is a large private for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Waterbury.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Post University are $15,458 per year. After completing their degree, parks and rec graduates from Post University carry an average student debtload of $33,750.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Post University

#4

Fitchburg State University

Fitchburg, MA
$16,735 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 35 schools in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Fitchburg State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Fitchburg State is a moderately-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Fitchburg.

Fitchburg State undergraduate students pay an average of $16,735 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, parks and rec majors at Fitchburg State accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Fitchburg State University

$18,480 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 35 schools in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Salem State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Salem State is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Salem.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Salem State are $18,480 per year. While working on their degree, parks and rec majors at Salem State accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $220, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Salem State University

$13,392 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.

Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network undergraduate students pay an average of $13,392 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network Report

#7

Lasell University

Newton, MA
$42,000 Average Tuition & Fees

Lasell University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Newton, Lasell is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lasell are $42,000 per year. After completing their degree, parks and rec graduates from Lasell carry an average student debtload of $27,000. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $443, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Lasell University

#8

Endicott College

Beverly, MA
$36,614 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Endicott College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the large suburb of Beverly, Endicott is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Endicott undergraduate students pay an average of $36,614 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, parks and rec majors at Endicott accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $470, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read More…

Northeastern University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the New England Region list. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northeastern are $57,592 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Northeastern also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the New England Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Northeastern University Report

#10

Castleton University

Castleton, VT
$30,046 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, Castleton University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the distant town of Castleton, Castleton is a public school with a small student population.

Castleton undergraduate students pay an average of $30,046 in tuition and fees each year. On average, parks and rec graduates from Castleton take out $26,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read More…

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies colleges for a specific state in the New England region.

State Degrees Awarded
New Hampshire 569
Maine 200
Rhode Island 291
Massachusetts 1,195
Connecticut 332
Vermont 165

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 67,146
Recreation Administration 3,122
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 3,106
Outdoor Education 265
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 174

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 142,610
Public Administration & Social Service 98,583
Legal Professions 61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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